“There’s No Place Like Home”

by Nika

“Can we know who we are by looking at where we live?”

Clare Cooper Marcus

I would argue that the answer to Professor Marcus’s question is a resounding “yes!” We choose our homes, just as we choose our clothes, in an effort to match our exteriors to an internal self-image. We all carry a vision of our ideal selves in our ideal surroundings, and spend a great deal of effort and resources to make that vision a reality. Imagine if you could have any home you wanted. If money was no object. What would it look like? How would it feel? Many people are never lucky enough to find that special place where they feel at ‘home’ – at rest. For others, we are blessed to find the home where we belong. It welcomes

us to come in and breathe. It just feels ‘right’, because it expresses our truest selves. That is the essence of ‘home’. It is a place of both physical residence and also spiritual refuge. My son knew this old house was his special place immediately. He felt at ‘home’ here, as do I.

In his famous work, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Carl Jung describes the gradual evolution of his home on Lake Zurich. Jung spent more than thirty years working on his house and believed that building a house was a symbol of building a self. He saw it as an act of spiritual growth, and placed a plaque near his front door which read, “Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Aderit”, or “Bidden or Not Bidden, God is Present.” I believe that God is present, not in the building of a house, but in the making of a “Home.” And, that is the work we are undertaking in our old house.

I’m really connecting with your last two posts. I love the process of restoring homes and connecting with their history. For me, peeling back layers of paint and paper, finding old wallpaper and trinkets is equally enjoyable as the final reveal. I actually read Carl Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections a lifetime ago when I was between high school and college. Perhaps it’s time for a re-read!

Thank you. I also feel a connection with your entries. I do believe there is a spirit in some houses that we can feel if we quiet our own minds. I am so intrigued by my house because, having been built by slaves and survived the civil war, it has been witness to so much that is hurtful as well as too joy -the entire spectrum of human experience.